The quiet Conference Room held only Danzo and Sarutobi.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Danzo and asked, "Are you really that eager to go to the battlefield and die?"
"I already said it: although my strength has been greatly diminished, I will not die on the battlefield!" Danzo said irritably. The old man opened his mouth only to curse others to death. He really did not know how to speak.
"I will have Kakashi and several other jonin accompany you into battle, and the Anbu will be responsible for your safety."
Taking a deep breath, Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately chose to compromise. Now truly was not the time for internal conflict.
Danzo frowned and refused. "Impossible! Root personnel will be responsible for my safety."
Although he had received the answer he wanted, who knew whether the Anbu Sarutobi sent would be there to monitor him and strip him of his authority?
"Your safety must be guaranteed! As the commander, if anything happens to you on the battlefield, it will have a severe impact on morale!" Sarutobi stared at him, insisting on his demand.
"I said I won't die! I have great confidence in this war!" Danzo said unhappily.
Why did this old man keep thinking he would die so quickly?
"That settles it. If you are unwilling to accept Anbu protection, then we will replace the commander-in-chief," Sarutobi said. "I will have Homura take your place."
Danzo glared at him, rose to his feet, slammed the table, and roared, "The daimyo only agreed to go to war because I was the commander!"
"And the clans in the village only sent troops because they supported me!"
Sarutobi stood up as well, refusing to back down. "But I am Konoha's Hokage!"
"I can likewise write to the daimyo and revoke your command. As for the village's affairs, my authority exceeds yours as well!"
For a moment, Danzo felt the urge to snatch the Hokage's position from the old man's hands.
Not for power, but simply so this man could witness the position he took such pride in being effortlessly taken by someone else.
"But they cannot interfere with my choices!"
Frowning deeply as he looked at Sarutobi's serious expression, Danzo knew he could not refuse this matter. Besides, the other man was claiming it was for his own good, so he could only respond helplessly.
Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction and sat back down. "They will only protect your safety."
Having achieved his goal, Danzo did not stay to look at the old man's sour face. He gave a brief farewell and left directly.
When he turned away, the gloom on his face changed into a smile.
The war had been decided. Though the process had been somewhat tortuous, Danzo was in an excellent mood.
Once they reached the battlefield, if the old man's Anbu dared to cause him trouble, Root would not stand idly by either.
By the time he left the Hokage Building, it was already close to midnight.
When he passed the park on his way back, Naruto was gone as well.
He went to Teuchi's place for a bowl of noodles, repaid the money from before, and prepared to return to Root to rest.
Come to think of it, he seemed never to have returned to "his own" home.
Looking at the road leading to the Shimura Clan Grounds, Danzo fell into thought.
Although Danzo was a member of the Shimura Clan and had his own house within the Shimura Clan Grounds, ever since the Second Hokage died, he had always lived in Root except when going to the battlefield. He rarely returned home.
He walked down this familiar yet unfamiliar lane, looking at the rows of familiar houses.
In Danzo's memories, the Shimura Clan had once been quite glorious.
But after the Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War, the Shimura Clan's population had plummeted, suffering even greater losses than during the Warring States Period.
"Danzo?"
A somewhat surprised voice sounded.
Danzo turned around and saw a white-haired old man staring at him in disbelief.
"It really is you."
The old man approached Danzo, his wrinkled face trembling slightly. "Y-you... why have you become younger?"
"So it's Xiao Yi." Danzo stared at the white-haired old man for quite a while before recognizing him as the original owner's childhood friend, then smiled.
Shimura Yi panted heavily, his face flushed red. "Xiao Yi?"
Being called Xiao Yi by a young man who looked several decades younger than him was something Shimura Yi found hard to accept.
"But you aged far too quickly. I almost didn't recognize you," Danzo said with a smile.
"Bastard!"
Shimura Yi cursed in dissatisfaction. "If it hadn't been for your plan back then, I wouldn't have been injured and left with this chronic condition. I wouldn't have aged so quickly now."
"Wouldn't it be better to retire early, stop fighting and killing, and stay in the village to look after the younger generation?"
Although Shimura Yi had been the original owner's friend, Danzo spoke with him without the slightest barrier. The entire exchange flowed naturally, as if he truly were Danzo.
"You..." Shimura Yi looked nostalgically at his youthful face and smile. "You've changed quite a bit. If I weren't still this bag of old bones, I'd think we had returned to our youth."
"You haven't smiled like this since the Second Hokage died."
"I'm old," Danzo said without further explanation.
The wrinkles on Shimura Yi's frowning face deepened further. This guy was still as irritating as ever.
Looking at the quiet clan grounds, Danzo asked in a daze, "How is the clan doing now?"
Shimura Yi sighed. "There are only a handful left, and they're all disappointing juniors."
"The Shimura Clan has declined. If I weren't still around, those youngsters would probably have no one to teach them ninjutsu even after entering the Ninja School."
Danzo said nothing. That was probably an exaggeration. They were still a major clan in the village, after all, and the clan possessed quite a few ninja scrolls.
But if those juniors were unwilling to work hard, then the situation probably was not much better.
Though the original owner held considerable seniority in the village, his focus had always been on Root.
Compared with the Shimura Clan, Root was the true direct force Danzo had built and cultivated with his own hands.
He rarely concerned himself with the Shimura Clan's affairs, much less trained its younger members.
"How many capable ninja are left in the clan?" Danzo finally asked after thinking for a long time.
"There are quite a few genin, around twenty chunin, and as for jonin..." Shimura Yi's expression turned awkward as he pointed at himself.
"Just me."
"So few?" Danzo frowned.
In the original story, although the Shimura Clan was a major clan, Danzo seemed to be its only notable member.
Over in Gintama, though, there had been plenty of Shimuras.
They couldn't make it as ninja, so they became samurai instead.
Danzo mocked inwardly.
"That's not so few. Look at the Senju Clan now—only Tsunade remains."
"Of the great clans from back then, only the Sarutobi Clan and the Uchiha are still considered prosperous. The rest are about the same as us."
"You must understand, in war, those at the very front are always people from major clans like ours."
Shimura Yi explained.
"You've probably heard at least some news about the recent events in the village, haven't you?" Danzo asked tentatively.
Upon hearing that, Shimura Yi widened his eyes and roared, "Impossible! The clan's children will never accompany you to the battlefield again!"
Before you continue